MIAMI — Under dire circumstances in Game 6 in opposition to Philadelphia, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla moved Robert Williams again into the beginning lineup, a shift that helped flip the sequence.
Facing an identical scenario – down 2-0 heading into Sunday’s Game 3 – Mazzulla modified it again. The Celtics returned to the smaller beginning lineup that they performed with for a lot of the common season, inserting Derrick White instead of Robert Williams
The lineup change wasn’t a lot of a shock after Mazzulla went again to start out the second half of Game 2, when the Celtics began sturdy and finally turned a four-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead getting into the fourth quarter.
“I thought it gave us a different look,” Mazzulla stated. “I thought we were able to change the matchups a little bit. I thought we got off to a good start.”
Part of the thought course of to transferring again into the beginning lineup was to assist the Celtics get into their spacing higher offensively after some robust stretches with the double-big lineup. White had additionally been higher to start out this sequence, scoring 11 factors every in Games 1 and a pair of on 6-for-10 taking pictures from behind the 3-point line.
“The attempts are down in early offense, so we have got to dictate the pace, play a little faster to get those early in the shot clock,” Mazzulla stated earlier than Game 3. “And then clearly with their switching and their zone, they attempt to stop these. We simply need to play quicker, whether or not it’s in transition or the halfcourt to generate these.
Unique connection
Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk are linked in a method they in all probability didn’t count on after they went to high school collectively in St. Louis. Ten years later, the Celtics star and Florida Panthers star are taking part in on the largest levels of their respective sports activities as they play within the NBA and NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals.
On 4 consecutive nights this week, Tatum and Tkachuk will play right here in South Florida in among the greatest video games of their life, with Tatum’s Celtics going through the Heat in Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday, and Tkachuk’s Panthers taking part in Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday up the street in Sunrise in opposition to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Tatum and Tkachuk had been in the identical grade at Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, and the roots of their friendship have taken discover lately. Tkachuk lately shared on a Bleacher Report podcast that they had been in the identical health club class for 3 years. And there’s a video that’s gone viral of Tatum and Tkachuk in a video mission they did collectively in highschool in 2013. The two nonetheless keep up a correspondence as we speak.
“Somebody I’ve somewhat kept in contact with through social media and stuff since we’ve left high school,” Tatum stated Sunday. “Somebody I’m happy for and obviously he’s doing big things, especially this time of the year. I remember it, the video, we were in gym class and stuff like that. So yeah, he’s a good friend of mine.”
Tkachuk – who helped the Panthers oust the Bruins within the first spherical of the playoffs final month – might inform Tatum had a vivid future again then.
“I don’t know if (Tatum) called his shot, but he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to the NBA,’” Tkachuk stated to Bleacher Report. “I used to be like, ‘Yeah, I mean you’re method higher than anybody I’ve ever seen.’ …
“He was not a cocky guy or arrogant at all,” he continued. “Super confident. Great, great, great dude. He’s such a stud.”
Extra hearth
Before this sequence started, ESPN Analytics predicted that the Celtics had a 97 p.c likelihood to win the sequence, with the Heat at a slim 3 p.c. Even after the Heat took a 2-0 sequence lead, the Celtics had been nonetheless favored. They got a 65 p.c likelihood to win.
The Heat aren’t being attentive to it.
“We don’t care. At all,” Gabe Vincent stated. “I don’t think we’re ever really picked for anything, so we believe in each other, we believe in what we can do. We’re just going to continue to play good basketball.”
The Heat could or could not take inventory of that outdoors noise, however they’re actually fueled by final season’s ending, after they misplaced Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Celtics. Right after that loss, Jimmy Butler stated the Heat would get again to this stage and end the job. Bam Adebayo ripped his jersey off after Game 7 final 12 months and that painful reminiscence has pushed him, even when he doesn’t have the jersey anymore.
“I think Pat (Riley) has the jersey. That’s something Pat wanted,” Adebayo stated. “But for me, being that close to being in another Finals, you’re going to rip your jersey off in anger, especially losing Game 7 on your home court. So it does fuel me, just because we were this close to going to another Finals.”
No time for chit-chat
Adebayo and Tatum are shut pals – the Heat star lately stated he’s identified his Celtics counterpart since he was 12 – however locked of their second consecutive convention finals in opposition to one another, they’re not having pleasant chats within the warmth of battle.
“(Expletive) no,” Adebayo stated. “I mean. Uh, no. … I don’t even talk to him on the court. He’s got on a green jersey, my jersey’s red.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com